Wood vs. Aluminum

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Broad Question

Which bat will be better for hitting a baseball further?

Specific Question

Will a wooden bat or aluminum bat be better for hitting a ball further?

Variables

Independent Variable: Bat Type

Dependent Variable:Average Distance (m)

Variables That Need To Be Controlled: Same person hitting

Hypothesis

I hypothesize that the aluminum bat will be better for hitting a baseball further.

Graph of Hypothesis

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General Plan

Experimental Design

I am going to conduct my experiment at the con way ele baseball field (if it’s dried up) or inside of the building in the gym. There will be two people involved in this experiment, my mom and I. I will be measuring and hitting the balls and my mom will be taking photos.
I will do twenty trials for the wooden bat and twenty trials for the aluminum bat, if i need to i will do more trials. I think that should be enough data though. As I record my data i will be writing down on a my spreadsheet how far the ball traveled. Once I’m all done recording my data I will put it all on the spreadsheet on google docs and then print it off. With my data online i will email it to Mrs. Rice, so i can work on it at school if i need to fix anything. I will be able to upload everything to wiki because it will all be on google docs.

1. Materials List
2. Baseballs (20)
3. Wooden bat
4. Aluminum bat
5. Camera
6. meter stick
7. Baseball field
8. pitching machine (optional)

Procedure
1.Go to baseball field with all materials
2.Set up the pitching machine
3.Get the balls in the pitching machine
4.Get to home plate
5. Hit 20 balls with the wood bat
6.Measure all of the balls distance with the meter stick
7.Hit 20 balls with the aluminum bat
8.Measure all of the balls distance with the meter stick
9.Record the data onto the computer

Background Research

• From the 1970’s to today aluminum bats have dominated wooden bats in youth leagues. In the MLB they have always used wooden bats because if they used aluminium bats they would hit a home run everytime.
• Depending on who is swinging the an aluminum bat may not be better for hitting a baseball further than a wooden bat. An aluminum bat is a lot lighter which helps control your swing, with a wooden bat it’s heavier which you have to control it yourself. The wooden bat has more recoil because it’s heavier.
• In the MLB aluminum bats have never been allowed because they would hit a home run evertime. The bats depend on the swing too, if your a good hitter you can hit with both, if your a decent hitter it would be good to use a aluminum bat.
• Wooden bats have been around for many years. A lot of people back in the old days that’s all theyv’e used. In my opinion I think aluminum bats have been better then wooden bats.

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References

A, Tyler. aluminum vs. Wood. 15 June Web. 1 Jan. 2001.
Dreier, David. Baseball How It Works. Mankato, mn: capstone press, 2010. Print.
Reed, nick. "Baseball day debute." Wood or aluminum bat?. 17 June 2008. Web. 1 Jan. <http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Spots_p016.shtml>.
Russell, Daniel A. "Why aluminum bats can perform better than wooden bats." Physics of baseball and softball bats. Kettering University, 18 Oct. 2006. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. <http://www.kettering.edu/physics/drussell/bats-new/alumwood.html>.

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Results

Data table

Graphs

Photos

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Data Analysis

Conclusion

The original purpose of this experiment was to see which bat was better for bunting, wood or aluminum. The results of the experiment were that the aluminum bat is better for bunting over of the wooden bat. The ball went a lot further then with the Demarini aluminum bat over the wooden bat. There were twenty trials for each bat. This was a reasonable amount of trials a good average. The average distance for the aluminum bat was 128 (cm) and the wooden bat average was 89.95.

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Discussion

My hypothesis was that the aluminum bat wood make the baseball go further than the wooden bat. My results do support my hypothesis. The independent variable and dependent variable do have a relationship. Some patterns and trends that my data shows are that when bunting with the aluminum bat, the ball goes further. The data show that the results are all close together. I think my tests went smoothly because it went well and really fast paced. If I could improve my experiment I would hit instead of bunt because it would be more fun. Also I would try to do the experiment earlier instead of at the last second. An interesting future study might involve having other people hit and see if they can match my scores, or just for more results and to have fun.